This invention relates to a connector having a slide cover which opens terminal-receiving chambers to allow electrical contact portions of terminals to make electrical contact with their respective mating terminals.
FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a conventional connector with a slide cover, and FIG. 8 is a vertical cross-sectional view of the connector in its connected condition.
The connector 27 with the slide cover is adapted to be connected to its mating connector 28. In the connector 27 with the slide cover, a front-half of a front wall of a connector housing 29 is notched or removed to form an opening 32 by which terminal-receiving chambers 31 are open. A resilient contact portion 34 of each terminal 33 is exposed at the opening 32. A pair of lip-like guide groove portions 35 are formed respectively on the opposite side portions of the connector housing 29 in a projected manner, and a cover 36 of the slide type is received in the guide groove portions 35. Retainer projections 37 are formed on the front end portion of the cover 36, and are engageable respectively in notches 39 formed in a beam 38 interconnecting the two guide groove portions 35.
In the mating connector 28, a flexible board 41 having a printed circuit 40 is mounted in a connector-fitting chamber 42. As shown in FIG. 8, when the connector 27 with the slide cover is fitted in the mating connector 28, the front end of the cover 36 is brought into contact with the upper edge of the mating connector 28, so that the cover 36 slides upward so as to expose the resilient contact portions 34 of the terminals 33. As a result, the resilient contact portions 34 make electrical contact with the printed circuit 40.
However, in the above conventional connector 27 with the slide cover, the guide groove portions 35 for guiding the sliding movement of the cover 36 must be provided at the front side of the connector housing 29 in a projected manner. This is disadvantageous in that the connector 27 is complicated in configuration and is bulky in size. Further, to assemble connector 27 an electric wire 43 is beforehand clamped to the terminal 33, and then the terminal 33 is inserted into the terminal-receiving chamber 31, and then the cover 36 is attached to the guide groove portions 35. A problem with the conventional connector is that these assembly operations must be done manually, keeping the productivity of connector assembly low.